1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
Embodiments of the present invention relate to water flow monitors and timers.
2. Description of Related Art
Good hand hygiene practices are a requisite for good health. While personal hand hygiene practices may directly impact the health of an individual, the corporate or institutional practices of individuals associated therewith may greatly impact the health of multitudes of others. It is well known that disease and infection is often communicated from one person to another as a consequence of poor hand hygiene practices by one or more persons in a chain of contact. In the hospitality industry, where employees have contact with food, service ware, bedding and the public, the possibilities for transmitting germs from one person to another are great. Schools, daycare centers, and offices have similar issues. The healthcare industry, however, is particularly dependent upon good personal hygiene.
Concern with avoiding the spread of infectious disease is particularly high in those industries that deal with the public, such as the healthcare and foodservice industries. A single employee, as a result of one incident of carelessness, such as not washing after using the bathroom, can transmit infectious bacteria to a number of patrons. The results can be disastrous, not only to those infected, but also to the employers business and reputation. Because the public interest is clearly at issue, the Food and Drug Administration has promulgated regulations that address washing by foodservice and other personnel. The FDA regulations identify handwashing as a “critical item,” such that violations of the rules governing handwashing “are more likely than other violations to lead to food contamination, illness, or environmental degradation.” The FDA regulations further specify that personnel must wash twice after using the restroom and use a specified wash procedure. The regulations also require that “a person in charge routinely monitor employee handwashing to ensure that employees are effectively washing their hands.”
The failure of workers to employ good hand hygiene practices and to comply with standards for hand hygiene results from opposition based in apathy, time pressures, resistance to change and the like. Indeed, there are many excuses for failure to comply with hand hygiene norms in many key industries. However, compliance with hygiene standards must be complete to minimize the chance of the transmission of infection. The failure of one worker to properly sanitize his or her hands can negate the efforts of all other workers who have been careful to properly sanitize their hands before handling food. Ensuring complete compliance requires constant diligence on the part of supervisors who typically have other pressing duties that can distract them from always effectively monitoring the hygiene of employees.
Although some devices have been constructed to facilitate in providing a predetermined quantity of water, or for timing the flow thereof, such as irrigation timers, such timers cannot be used for providing a timed flow of water for use in washing one's hands because such devices run for timed intervals of several minutes, not seconds. Accordingly, such devices do not have the capability to run for only 15 to 20 seconds as is needed for washing hands. Yet another problem with such known devices is that they do not provide the ability to pre-determined or user-determined amount of time upon a user turning on a water faucet.
There is currently a need to ensure that food industry workers and healthcare workers are able to determine how long they should wash their hands in order to meet rules, regulations, and procedures as discussed above.